Jan Kraybill is a musical leader and dynamic speaker; a concert organist, pianist, and harpsichordist; an educator and organ consultant; and an enthusiastic cheerleader for the power of music to change lives for the better.

Dr. Kraybill is Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage, promote, and enliven congregational singing. In addition, she serves as Organ Conservator at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, and Organist-in-Residence at the international headquarters of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. In these roles she plays and oversees the care of the Kansas City metro area’s three largest pipe organs: Community of Christ Auditorium’s 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner (installed in 1959) and Temple’s 102-rank Casavant (1993), and the 102-rank Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant (2012) at the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall. Throughout her career Jan has performed solo and collaborative roles in musical events, lead international hymn festivals, taught workshops, inspired audiences and congregations, and been a resource for worship musicians.

While in high school in Colby, Kansas, Jan was invited to play her first European piano recital, in Andover, England. Since then she has performed in many venues in United States, and abroad in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Tahiti, and The Netherlands. She has undertaken multiple tours of the United Kingdom, including organ concerts at the grand cathedrals of Chester, Exeter, and St. Paul’s in London. Her most recent British trip, in summer 2015, included designing and leading a hymn festival at the International Gathering of Hymn Societies at Cambridge University.

Jan has been featured at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Hymn Society, and other musicians’ organizations, and has been heard on Kansas Public Radio and American Public Media’s nationally broadcast program Pipedreams. She has collaborated as organist, pianist, and harpsichordist with many ensembles, including the Bach Aria Soloists, the Phoenix Chorale, the Kansas City Chorale, the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus, and others.

Four solo CDs and several collaborative recordings are available. Two by 2: Two Organ Symphonies on Two Magnificent Organs features both of Community of Christ’s pipe organs. Rejoice and Remember: Piano Music for All Seasons contains favorite hymn arrangements. The Auditorium Organ: Fifty Years of Excellence celebrated that organ’s 50th anniversary in 2009. The first solo CD of the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant, Organ Polychrome, was released by Reference Recordings in 2014. Jan has recorded for Reference with the Kansas City Symphony on several occasions; their most recent disc, containing Saint-Saën’s “Organ” Symphony, was nominated for a Grammy in 2015.

Dr. Kraybill earned piano performance and education degrees from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and a doctorate in organ performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance. In 2010 she achieved the distinction of Fellow of the AGO, organists’ highest certification level. In 2013 she was named Musician of the Year by the Kansas City Musical Club, and in 2014 the UMKC Conservatory honored her with its Alumni Achievement Award.

Jan has served in many elected local, regional, and national roles in the AGO, The Hymn Society, and the Master Teacher Institute. She teaches workshops on fostering personal creativity. She is a member of Mensa. Her extra-musical interests include antiquing, lace making, and riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle with her husband Allan.